


Willing to Fight

by Diary



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bechdel Test Fail, Canon Gay Character, Conversations, Family, Friendship/Love, Gen, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, POV Bob Hughes, POV Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:09:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7799407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Repost. An AU look at the aftermath of the train accident. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Willing to Fight

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own As the World Turns.

Luke is playing with Casey.

He's twenty-two, almost twenty-three, and they're laughing and playing cards in the waiting room, but right now, all Bob can see is little Luke Snyder playing with his grandson. Luke Snyder was an inquisitive child, always climbing trees and asking how things worked, but always as polite as he could be unless someone insulted his family or friends. He loved to read as much as he loved to play outside and his light blond hair always stuck in every which direction, no matter how hard Lily tried to tame it.

Thickly, Bob asks, "Margo, have they found the wallet?"

"The wall- No."

"Good," he says. "It'll be under the driver's seat." Never before has he been so grateful for Reid's strange quirks. "Get it, and take out his DNR card. Don't let them see it."

"Bob-" Her voice is heavy and sad.

Casey is giving Luke a noogie, and Luke says something too quietly to hear. Whatever it is causes Casey to let go in disgust. "Dude! We totally agreed you'd never bring that up again!"

Making sure to keep his own voice quiet, he says, "Margo, Luke is sitting twenty feet away from me, playing cards with your son. This goes beyond legalities and medical ethics."

"I understand." A minute later, she says, "I've got the card. They're ready to take him now. I'll call you when we get to the hospital."

He ends the call and lets out a shuddering sigh. First, his son needs a heart, and now, Reid Oliver has been hit by a train. He's finding it harder and harder to maintain his usual positive outlook.

"Who was that, Granddad?"

Bob jumps and turns to see Casey and Luke have walked over. To make matters worse, the latter is looking expectantly towards the door. "It was your mother. There was an emergency out of town."

He knows he has to tell Luke, but he how is supposed to? At least, with Noah, he could safely give a diagnosis of eventually waking up and living. How's he supposed to tell the young man standing in front of him the man he loves has been hit by a train and could soon die?

Christ, Reid is thirty-eight. He's passionate as anything about saving lives and, as far as Bob can see, has never met a piece of food he doesn't want. He's in love with Luke and was trying to help Christopher.

Even when Reid Oliver was insulting everyone and everything and deliberately rebelling against authority, Bob has never been blindingly angry. The closest he got was when Reid insulted Kim, and even then, it was more of regular anger than anything.

Now, though-

Were the blinking lights faulty, or did Reid decide, since the barriers weren't being lowered and he couldn't hear the train coming, he had plenty of time? Reid Oliver is many things, but self-destructive isn't one of them. Stupid certainly isn't.

Was he worried about Chris? Thinking about getting back to Luke and celebrating?

A memory hits him of Reid and Luke coming in once, months ago. Reid had been sweating and shaking slightly. Luke had explained they'd gotten stuck in an elevator at the Lakeview.

Did his claustrophobia kick in and prevent him from thinking rationally and getting out of the car and on the other side of the barriers?

"Is everything okay, Dr Bob?"

Bob feels everything crumble even more.

When Luke was little, he called Bob this. Once he got to be a teenager, he started calling him Dr Hughes, but on a rare occasion, when Luke forgets he's supposed to call him 'Bob' now, Dr Bob will make a reappearance.

Luke is looking at him in concern.

"Yeah," Casey says. "Granddad, you look as pale as a ghost. I get that you're worried about Chris, but Dr Oliver will come through. Especially since he didn't eat before he left, and I don't think he'd stop on his way."

Luke puts a hand against his forehead and shakes his head. "I know Chris deserves that heart, but I can't help but sympathise with whoever it was who decided otherwise. I've dealt with Reid angry and on an empty stomach, and that was after he started liking me. For someone who he doesn't like to have to deal with that falls under cruel and unusual punishment."

Chris is lying dying in a hospital room, and Reid is lying dying in Bay City. Luke is clueless, and Bob has no idea what to do. "Luke, is your father still in town?"

As soon as he's told, Luke will be on his way to Bay City. Bob can't stop him, and he needs to stay near his own son. The idea to restrain Luke is somewhat tempting, but Bob does have strong medical ethics.

While he's not going to let a decision Reid made as an eighteen-year-old loner who thought he had nothing worth living for if circumstances happened requiring CPR deny the man Reid is now a fighting chance, he's not going to violate his oath as a doctor, the trust Luke has in him as a grandfather-figure, or the decency he has as a human being to make things easier for himself.

If Holden is still in town (please, please, God let him be), he'll explain the situation to him. If not, he'll call Lucinda. Lily is a wonderful person and a good parent, but Bob knows she'll make things worse.

"I think so," Luke answers. He looks towards the door, again. "Why? What's going on?"

"Why don't you go get some food for when Reid comes back?"

"Hey, that's a good idea," Casey says. "I think they still have some of those meat combo sandwiches he inhales. Let's go buy some before they run out. We can have them put on hold."

Looking somewhat weary, Luke allows Casey to lead him away but shoots one last look at the door.

Gathering his nerves, Bob calls. "Holden, tell me you're still in town."

"I just left city limits. Why? What's going on, Bob?"

"Turn around and come straight to the hospital."

"Bob, what's going on," Holden demands.

"It's Luke." Realising how this sounds, he quickly adds, "He's fine. Dr Oliver's car was hit by a train in Bay City. I haven't been able to tell him, yet."

"Don't. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

He's about to say thank you when Holden continues, "Bob, tell me he's still alive. Is he?"

"When Margo called, he still was. They're taking him to a hospital there."

…

A ragged-looking Holden appears in the doorway of Chris’s room. "Where is he?"

"Cafeteria," Bob quietly answers.

"Thank you.”

"Dad? Is everything okay with Luke?"

All he can do is nod and kiss his son's head. "Everything will be fine."

He has to believe this. He has to believe his youngest son will get the heart he needs, somehow. He has to believe Reid Oliver will be able to survive being hit by a train and live. He has to believe Luke will be able to hold hands with the man he loves and be forced to make apologies and give sensible advice Reid will refuse to take for many years to come.

"Dad, that's not an answer."

"It's the best I can give."

"What's going on?"

"A friend of Luke's was in an accident."

"Oh. Will they be okay?"

"I hope so." His phone rings, and he knows it's Margo. "Listen, I'm going to go check on your mother."

Outside the room, Margo tells him, "He's in surgery. They said something about internal bleeding. I'm not a doctor, but Bob, that isn't good, is it?"

"It's not, but there's still a chance."

The pain intensifies when he sees Holden leads a crying Luke through the room with Casey following behind.

…

An hour later, they get a call saying a heart has been found for Chris and will be there in thirty minutes.

"I'll tell him," Bob tells Kim and Katie. "He can't know about Reid until after he's recovered from the surgery."

Inside the room, Chris reads the look on his face and says, "That jackass Oliver came through. Can I see him before the surgery? I need to thank him."

Hating himself, Bob answers, "He's in surgery. Just focus on mentally preparing yourself."

"Of course he is," Chris says. "Luke, then. I can thank him for what his boyfriend did."

Morbidly, Bob's first reaction is to imagine how Luke would respond to Chris telling him to thank Reid for getting hit by a train. "Luke is busy with the friend who was hurt. You can talk to him later."

Before Chris can respond, red-eyed but composed, Kim and Katie enter.

…

Once Chris is in surgery, Bob calls Holden.

"I wish I had Mama's shotgun," is the first thing Holden says.

"What's going on?"

"Margo is having to use police authority to get us answers," Holden grits out. "One nurse made it very clear what she thought of my son and his relationship with Dr Oliver. You'd be proud of your grandson, by the way. He's a twenty-two-year-old kid, Bob, and he's devastated and scared. The last thing he needs is- well, people like her anywhere near him."

Sighing, Bob asks, "What information have you gotten?"

"He's still in surgery. There are internal injuries. It's too soon to tell anything else. Which is hell, because, of course, Luke wants to do something, or find someone who can, and right now, waiting is all any of can do. Meanwhile, he's refusing to eat, Lily isn't answering her phone, and I didn't think to get his medicine before we left town. How am I supposed to get him into a nearby hotel, let alone back to Oakdale? Leaving him isn't an option." Sighing, he says, "Casey's offered to go, but he's having better luck at distracting Luke than Margo and I are."

"I'll fax over his prescriptions," Bob says. "You can pick them up at the pharmacy there. In the meantime, I'll try to contact Lily."

"Thank you," Holden mutters. "Bob, what am I going to do? I don't know Dr Oliver very well, but Lily's been telling me all about him and Luke. It sounds like he loves the man. What am I supposed to do if the man my son loves dies on an operating table? Or if he comes through the surgery, and then, dies?"

"Right now, you need to get the fax and pick up his prescription," Bob answers. "Get him to eat something. Other than that-"

"Yeah," Holden says. "How's your boy doing? I'm sorry for not asking earlier."

"He's in surgery," Bob answers. "Once he's back, I'll be there."

"Bob-"

"Reid Oliver is a friend of mine," he says. "As soon as Christopher is okay, I'll be there to do anything I can to help him."

"Thank you," Holden repeats. "I'll go find a fax machine. And Bob? I'm glad that Chris is going to be okay."

"Thank you."

…

When he gets there, Reid is out of surgery but in intensive care. Even Margo's police authority isn't enough to get them to allow Luke to see them. Casey is helping his mother argue with a doctor while Holden almost literally forces a numb-eyed, twitching Luke to eat a banana.

Presenting his ID, Bob tells the head surgeon, "I'm his doctor. Let me see him and his chart."

Inside the room, Bob takes a ragged breath. Reid's head is shaved, and he has bruises all over his body and face along with several deep cuts. Clinically, Bob notes his hands don't appear to be damaged. If Reid does wake up (please, please, please), Reid will consider this to be one of the most important things.

Sitting down, he takes one of Reid's hands in his own. "Hello, Dr Oliver. I understand if you need some time, but you need to wake up soon. Luke's here. I'll get it where he can see you soon. Right now, though, I just need to sit here for a few minutes."

After a minute or two, he says, "I know you never intended for it to happen, but you've made a home and created a family. There are people who will miss you, not your genius, if you leave now. I just wish I had realised that earlier than I did."

"You know, when I first found out about you and Luke, I was annoyed because of the conflict of interest it presented. But more than that, I was worried about him. Even then, I was fond of you, but my own biases told me that someone who treated people as you do couldn't deeply love another person. And Luke, Luke loves very deeply. He's been through so much for such a young man. I suppose some part of me was trying to shield him and use the conflict of interest as an excuse."

Laughing slightly, he continues, "I still remember the shock I felt when you quit. The moment you were out the door, I realised that I didn't understand you or your feelings half as well as I thought. I was already trying to figure out how to get you back. Luckily, Luke did it for me."

Squeezing the hand, Bob says, "You were willing to fight for him. You're fond of Katie and Jacob and my son. You'll probably never admit, but I think you like Kim, too. Fight for him and them now."

Sitting and praying, he watches Reid's chest rise and fall.

Finally, thinking of Luke sitting outside, he sighs, gives another squeeze, gets up, and steels himself to do whatever's necessary to force them to let Luke in.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: Usually, I'd say what Bob and Margo did was wrong. As a basic rule, DNRs should be respected.
> 
> However, my head!canon is Reid got it when he had no one important in his life and believed it'd be better to die than risk being saved and potentially live with physical/mental disabilities. He never bothered getting it changed when he got close to Luke, Katie, and the others. Going by this, Bob genuinely believes Reid is now in a place where he'd want to live, even if it meant he wasn't in top form.


End file.
